528 tons of deer feed distributed, program ends Saturday

Volunteers are concluding a sometimes-controversial deer-feeding program Saturday, after distributing about 528 tons of pellet feed to help the northern Minnesota deer population get through a brutal winter.

The state's Department of Natural Resources collects money for the program through a 50-cent surcharge that deer hunters pay as part of licensing, and the account had roughly $770,000 in it before about $200,000 was spent in the last six weeks.